18 September, 2015

UN: Boko Haram forced nearly 1.4 million children to flee

“The
United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) says the militancy waged
by the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram has forced around 1.4
million children in the Lake Chad region to flee. The number includes
some 500,000 youngsters displaced over the last five months after an
upsurge in attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, UNICEF said
on Friday.”

“Children
have suffered the brunt of the militancy in Nigeria, where some 1.2
million of the youngsters have been rendered homeless as a result of
the Takfiri group’s brutality. Some 265,000 other children have
been affected in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The group has
started to target the countries more vengefully after they joined
Nigeria's military in a regional counter-offensive.”

“'Each
of these children running for their lives is a childhood cut short,'
said UNICEF's regional director for West and Central Africa Manuel
Fontaine. 'It's truly alarming to see that children and women
continue to be killed, abducted, and used to carry bombs.'”